Devon-born Martin, who now lives in Malibu, California, said there are two approaches at the end of a marriage.

“You can come at it very aggressively and blame and blame,” said the 39-year-old.

Martin and Paltrow in 2014Credit:
NBC

“Or you can put yourself in the garage, so to speak. Take yourself apart and clean off the bits. Reassemble.”

He said he read literature to get himself through a year of depression after the high-profile separation from Paltrow, with whom he remains on good terms – she sings backing vocals on Coldplay’s new album.

Martin and Paltrow announced their separation in 2014 and divorced the following yearCredit:
GOOP

Martin read The Guest House, a 13th century work by the Persian poet Rumi, and Man’s Search for Meaning, a Holocaust memoir and psychotherapeutic manual by the Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist Victor Frankl.

“That one Rumi poem changes everything,” Martin recounted.

“It says that even when you’re unhappy, it’s good for you.

“I was like ‘What?!’ It took me about a year to get it.

“A year of depression and all that.

“I still wake up down a lot of days. But now I feel like I’ve been given the tools to turn it around.”

He added that he felt “a little calmer” and “more grateful” after the end of the 12-year marriage, adding: “I’ve lived a lot of life since then.”